Can This Adapter Turn Manual Focus Lenses Into Autofocus Ones?

If you asked many photographers what magical device they would love to have, an adapter that turns manual focus lenses into autofocus ones would probably be near the top of many lists. For Sony shooters, there is the Techart PRO Version II, which allows Leica M lenses to autofocus on E mount mirrorless cameras, and this awesome video review takes a look at the adapter and the sort of performance you can expect from it in real-world usage. 

Coming to you from DPReview TV, this great video review takes a look at the Techart PRO Version II Leica M to Sony E adapter with autofocus. Leica M lenses are beloved for their sharp, contrasty renderings with a very distinct and recognizable character, but on the other hand, as they are designed for rangefinders, they are all manual focus only. And while modern mirrorless cameras generally have very good manual focus aids, having autofocus is always quite nice, especially since it is one less thing to worry about when you are shooting. As you will see, you should not expect ultra-fast autofocus performance, but it is quite serviceable for less demanding applications. Check out the video above for the full rundown. 

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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5 Comments

I can't believe a product like this exists. It's incredible they fit that moving mechanism into such a small case and it's actually fairly affordable.

This is an awesome creation. We live in an amazing time! I'm just curious though, does the lens itself need to be focused at infinity at a certain aperture to work? Will the lens focal length effect autofocus performance?

I was thinking that. If you bump it does it throw it out of whack?

I've long wondered why the sensor-shifting wizards at Olympus/OMDS (et. al.) haven't come up with a way to move the sensor back and forth along the optical axis in order to at least fine-tune manual focus. Contax actually made a film camera that auto-focused by moving the entire film mechanism back and forth.

Perhaps because it would help vintage lenses compete with new ones?

I came here just to mention the lovely and ingenious Contax AX camera.

Funny to see millenniums thinking that everything has been developed in this century.